What are the motifs in Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori?

Loss is a recurring idea in the story. Through death, Yuki loses her mother. But it is more than just her mother that is lost; Yuki also loses her emotional support, her childhood, her optimism, and possibly her closest friend. When her father remarries, Yuki must give up her summers with her maternal relatives. Eventually, her stepmother throws away all of Yuki's clothes, including the ones that Shizuko made for her. Yuki's stepmother replaces everything in the house that represents Shizuko, from the handcrafted dinner plates and bowls to the boxes in which Shizuko saved little mementos from Yuki's childhood.